Elegia
by Kiteman
Summary: Max's traumatic experience has damaged her for life. As Kate tries to rebuild her friend's life, Max's own mind and memories are starting to betray her, and the people around her. This isn't about saving Arcadia Bay. This is about saving her own mind and sanity. (Trigger Warning: Small pieces of Marshfield, here and there.)
1. Episode 1: Distortion

ELEGIA

"Not everyone deserves a happy ending."

Episode 1: Distortion

As Max suddenly woke up from her sleep, at almost 2AM, scared and confused by hearing that. A distorted voice, that made every centimeter of her body shiver.

She couldn't sleep after that. She couldn't sleep after what happened on Friday. She didn't even take off the Funeral Clothes.

She went onto her laptop and cellphone, to check out what she missed, atleast in this reality. She knew things would be different.

To her surprise, not much changed. Warren still bombarded her with 20 messages per day, but stopped on October 7h. Victoria was still an attention-seeking bitch, saying her condolences to Chloe online. Kate's...vid was still up.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Max said, as she then thought to herself: "In a shitty time like this, that video is still up?!"

Victoria came to her mind. An attention-seeking parasite was all she was to Max. Especially for this. It's disgusting. But then Kate suddenly popped up in Max's mind. Kate is an awesome person, with a lovely heart, and is goodness, personified, would she...understand, if I told her about...everything?

 _ **No. That's stupid. She would never understand what I'm going through right now. And there's nothing I can do to prove it.**_

Still, I need...I want...someone to just...

It was almost 2AM. Kate could hear Max sobbing and crying. She felt, powerless against Max's suffering. She wanted to help her. Hold her. Something.

But most of all, she wanted to understand her. Why was she so attached to that punk girl? She never spoke of her. She wasn't a student here. And Max certainly doesn't want to mention her at all, for...well...obvious reasons.

Kate couldn't sleep, either. She just couldn't.

10AM. Max was still in her room. As she was in her room, everyone else were still altered by what happened. Classes were suspended, but access to the dorms was not prohibited.

Max was still crying. For hours, upon hours. She suddenly stopped when someone knocked on her door.

"Max, are you...are you still there?", the voice said...the voice was from Kate. "Max, could you...I want to talk."

Max has had many visitors to comfort her. Warren, Brooke, Ms. Grant...Warren again, Principal Wells...Warren once more. She declined about half of the requests to talk, and that half were the 3 times, from Warren.

Why did it take so long for Kate to-

 ** _Ah, fuck it. Maybe she can make me feel somewhat better...which is highly unlikely._**

Max opened her door and was greeted with Kate's shy, but adorable smile, written all over her face.

"Hey, Kate" Max said, even if she didn't realize how low-energy and depressing her voice was starting to sound. "Could you...come in?"

Kate nodded, as she entered the room, however she just noticed one little detail: Max was still wearing her funeral clothes.

"Max? You're eyes are baggy, you're still wearing the same clothes..." Kate said, with Max closing the door, and heading for the bed again. "For how long did you sleep?"

Max was silent.

"For how long have you been...crying, Max?" Kate said, which got Max's attention.

"For too long." Max responded. "But its fine, Kate, really. Besides, the funeral was just yesterday, so-"

"Wait, what?" Kate said, as she interrupted Max. "The funeral wasn't..."

"What is it?" Max responded.

"Today is Sunday, Max" Kate told her. "You haven't come out of your room for a full day. You still have the same clothes-"

"Kate, that makes no goddamn sense, how could it-" Max said, as she checked her laptop once more, and saw the date. Kate was right. Max skipped a full day. But how? She had no memory of it.

 _ **What...in the...what? That makes no sense. How could I forget a full day?**_

"Max? You're nose...its bleeding..." Kate said, as she took a tissue out of Max's tissue box, right next to the counter.

Max was shaking and bleeding. As Kate approached to clean her up, Max was trying to piece it all together, but couldn't make it. When Kate finished cleaning her up, she looked at Max. She was frightened, cold, and alone.

Max grabbed Kate's arm and told her: "Please just, just stay with me...ok? Just for a while...", as Kate nodded.

"Replacing so soon, Max?"

Max almost snapped her neck, when she turned around to see who said that. All she saw was a hand letting go of the doorknob, as the door closed. Max recognized that voice perfectly.

She ran to the door, opened it, but the hallway was empty. Kate went to her aid: "What's wrong, Max?" "Max?"

 _ **That can't be...it was...her...her loud, but soothing voice...if I could just...**_

"Max!" Kate said, but it was useless. Max couldn't hear anything, but a sharp ringing in her ears. The deafening effect was stopped by Kate, when she grabbed Max's arm.

 ** _What is happening to me? That couldn't have been her...it...it can't..._**

"Max, for god's sake, just come back to your room. Come on, I'll carry you if I have to, just...come with me, ok?" Kate said, "You're going to be just fine."

"Kate, I have to follow that voice!" Max answered. "It was her, I'm...I-I heard it!"

"Heard what? Max, you're...come with me. Now" Kate demanded, with a worried, but also scared face.

 ** _Kate. She looks worried. More worried than usual. She thinks...she thinks I'm losing it...isn't she?_**

 ** _She's may not be wrong._**

"Hang tight, Max, I'm calling someone for help-" Kate said, before Max grabbed her arm.

"Don't." Max said. "I'm scared, I need...something. I don't know."  
"Help?" Kate asked, while Max desperately nodded.

As Kate held her in bed, laid back, and relaxed, there she was. Max.

The peaceful, hipster girl is broken.

As she was crying in Kate's shoulder, Kate was still scared to ask how much Chloe meant to Max. She could end up getting more hurt than now.

As for Max, she was too scared to tell Kate the truth, about everything. She wouldn't believe her, and would actually have a reason to send Max to an insane asylum. And that was no joke.

After an hour, Max calmed down, and slept through half of the time, as she kept listening to Kate's heartbeat, which calmed her down so much, she entered in a deep sleep.

Kate got up, without waking up Max. She put a blanket over Max, to keep her warm.

As she looked down, she saw a broken Alarm Clock. Torn to pieces.

 ** _Max must be feeling like complete crap, for her to break something apart, with such rage._**

This still doesn't explain why she has lost track of how she doesn't have any memory of Saturday. She couldn't have slept through the whole day.

As Kate went to throw the Alarm Clock to the garbage can, she noticed Max's messenger bag.

The journal was sticking out. Kate started to think about reading it...

 ** _This...this is not right, this is...invading privacy, this is me being nosy..._**

She looked back at Max, to see if she was still asleep, and she was.

 ** _One look won't hurt. Maybe she wrote something down on Saturday or on Friday. I really want to know what she's feeling. I...I need to know._**

As she opened the journal, she was in the page of last week's Sunday. Prepared to launch herself to see what Max wrote down at the start of this crazy week.

As Kate started to go through, page by page, day after day, she was shocked.

Everything that was written here, actually happened. Detailed to the final nail. Real photographs. Detailed scenarios.

 _Yeah, she was in the bathroom but...she avoided Chloe's death?_

 _That makes no sense, she's dead now but..._

 _Rewind powers? Reversing time?_

 _All of this happened on Monday, what-_

Kate stumbled upon the page from October 8th. She wrote about escaping with Chloe, she wrote about Frank, and she wrote about...Kate.

 _ **"Tuesday October 8th: Everyone at Blackwell saw what was happening. With David harassing her, Jefferson shaming her, along with every student here: Kate was trying to jump from the roof. "**_

"No...this-this can't..."

 _ **"I almost ended up dead because of this, but I used what I had left of my power to stop Kate from jumping. As I got up to the roof, my rewind power ran out. It was just me and Kate. It took me so much, and hurt me so much, but I did it. I managed to get her to come down. I just couldn't let her die, by any means necessary."**_

Kate barely held the journal, as her hands were shaking so much.

A whirlwind of emotions flew through Kate.

She stared at Max's peaceful, asleep body, for god knows how long...

Kate was still holding the journal. Max was still asleep.

 _This can't be real. This can't be...true...I tried to commit suicide? And she...she tried to..._

 _There are polaroids here. Evidence of some other timeline, then maybe she's not lying, or not just crazy..this is evidence of something else._

 _Something bigger._

Max was starting to move, violently, from side to side.

"Stay...away, you-" Max said..."Goddammit, stay away from ME!", as she started to scream until she finally woke up, trying to breath.

Kate quickly hid the journal back in the bag, as Max woke up. She hugged Max, so that she could calm down.

"Shh, its okay, its okay..." Kate said, as she was trying to calm Max down. "I'm here now."

Max held on to Kate for 10 minutes, to get her thoughts straight. She calmed down and thanked Kate for her support.

"Max, I..." Kate was about to interrogate Max. About everything.

But she couldn't do it. This girl was emotionally destroyed. Maybe she even made all that up.

There was one piece that was missing. Did she really not remember anything about yesterday? Its Sunday. The funeral took place in Friday. She's still wearing her funeral clothes, but she must have gone out, atleast once.

"Do you really not remember anything about yesterday? Anything at all?" Kate asked, with genuine interest, and intrigue. But with the most sincere face of all time, Max had no idea.

"I can't remember anything...it's almost as if I skipped 24 hours of my life..." Max said, as Kate reacted with a disappointed face.

"Listen Max...I don't know what you've been through, throughout this week." This was a lie. Kate read the journal. She just wants to confirm-

"You have no idea what I've been through." Max said, with a distorted, somber voice. Something unrecognizable.

Max suddenly shivered. She blacked out when she said that. She saw Kate's face. It was full of...fear.

"Oh my god, Kate. I'm...I'm sorry I said that I just-" Max said, but Kate interrupted her.

"If you want t-to talk, I'll be right here. Right next to..." Kate said, before slowly reachign the door, to leave the room.

Max sat down, in front of her laptop. Sighed. Her breathing started to accelerate.

"What the hell is happening to me?" Max said, silently. "That voice, was the same one I heard...It wasn't my voice, there...there has to be an explanation for this..."

Kate listened to everything. She didn't leave the room just yet. But she couldn't stay any longer. She closed the door without Max noticing.

 ** _This makes no sense. This makes no sense. This makes no sense._**

 ** _I'm losing it._**

 ** _I have to calm myself._**

 ** _Ok Max, focus: What happened yesterday?_**

 ** _October 12th._**

 ** _Chloe's funeral was the 11th._**

 ** _After that, I went to her house. To talk to David and Joyce. David tried to kick me out, but Joyce was too scared and sad to even have the energy to stop him._**

 ** _I went to the dorms and went to my bed. When I got up, it was...it was noon...then I..._**

"Do you really want to know what you did, Max?"

Max did the same thing. Almost snapped her neck, when she heard that voice. It wasn't Chloe's voice. It was...the distorted, somber voice...

"It wasn't anything of importance, really."

"You're just...a voice?" Max said, because she didn't see anyone.

"Far from it, Maxine." The voice said, as it whispered into Max's ear. Max felt scared, she felt cold, she felt exposed.

The voice disappeared.

 ** _That voice sounded...so soft...yet so distorted...it sounded so familiar...it wasn't Chloe's, it's-_**

That voice is in my mind, though.

Did I just block out my own memories?

What the hell is happening?

As Kate left Max's room, she went to the Girls' Dorm's bathroom.

She took a warm shower, to free herself and make it easier to digest whatever the heck happened in Max's room.

If the Journal was real, if any of what it said was real. The polaroids are evidence that proves the journal right, though. But nothing written in there made any sense.

 _ **I tried to kill myself? Why? How could I be so emotionally destroyed that would cause me to-**_

 ** _The video._**

 ** _"The" video._**

 ** _Then why didn't I try to kill myself, in my own reality, or timeline, or whatever?_**

 ** _I tried to kill myself, but Chloe wasn't dead in that timeline._**

 ** _Chloe's death distracted Kate, not only because she was shocked this happened in her own school, but also because of how it affected Max throughout the week._**

 ** _If I wouldn't have been there for Max, I would have put all of my concentration towards that terrible video._**

 ** _Max saved me from jumping, but she also saved me in a weird way, in this timeline._**

 ** _I need to talk to her about this, I need to...to-_**

"Oh god, I'm taking a shower here!" Kate violently said, because the water suddenly got as cold as ice. Someone tried to wash their damn hands.

"Sorry, Kate." Someone said. It was Dana's voice. "I'll just come back later-" Dana said, before Kate interrupted her, as she turned off the shower and put on her clothes. She exited from the shower curtain with her clothes on.

"Could I talk to you, Dana?" Kate asked, with Dana nodding, while holding a confused expression.

Kate went to Dana's dorm room. She sat down beside Dana, ready for the interrogation.

"We need to talk about Max." Kate said.

"Sure, what do you wanna talk about her?"  
"Did she do something, or go somewhere yesterday?" Kate said, while Dana gave an even more confusing look.

"Well, I saw her walk out of her room as soon as I got back from lunch. She didn't return until 1AM." Dana firmly responded. She witnessed it.

"Did she act strange around you or anyone else?"

"Actually, yeah." Dana responded. "I tried to ask her where she was going, when I got back. She heard me, stopped right in front of me, but refused to look at me. It was really fucking weird. She continued to walk to her dorm room, and I was the only one who saw her."

"Why don't you ask her, Kate?"  
"She can't-"

"You mean, she refuses to respond?" Dana asked, as Kate started to nod.

"Let me try to ask Max myself-"

"No! Don't do that, Dana." Kate said, with somewhat of a hostile voice. She softened her voice, calmed down, and continued.

"She's in a terrible state, in this moment. We need to keep this a secret. Can you do that for me, Dana? For Max?" Kate firmly said, while Dana nodded, with a disappointed look plastered all over her face.

Kate thanked Dana for her discretion on her way out of her room.

 ** _Max isn't a good liar. However this is different. She doesn't have any memory of what happened yesterday. She has to be telling the truth, even if it's hard to believe._**

 ** _Almost as if, she was in some auto-pilot mode._**

Max stood up, and was walking in circles. "Oh my god, oh my god. I'm going insane, I'm going insane...", Max kept repeating, outloud.

"Why is this happening? Why am I starting to lose it-"

"Did you seriously just make that stupid question?"

Max turned around, and she saw it.

"You...again?"

"Missed me, Maxine?", she said to Max. With a distorted, somber voice.

Max could perfectly see who she was.

She could see her.

She felt so much fear.

"You son of a bitch." Max said.

"Don't talk about our mom that way!" She said, followed by a small, somber chuckle.

 ** _Oh yeah._**

 ** _I'm losing it._**


	2. Episode 2: Layers of Fear

Episode 2: Layers of Fear

After talking to Dana, Kate went outside of the dorms. There weren't a lot of people to be seen. Most stayed in their homes, and Kate couldn't blame them. One thing was how a former student got shot and died, in our own bathroom.

Another thing, was the gunshot. The gunshot everyone heard, that filled everyone's faces with either confusion, or fear. Or both.

Kate could remember, because she was afraid, too.

 _ **Kate just left Jefferson's classroom, as she was on her way onto opening her locker, to pack up her stuff.**_

 _ **Bang.**_

 ** _Everyone heard that, inside the building. Jefferson stormed out of the classroom, while Principal Wells did the same thing, from his office. David Madsen, himself, was startled, too. He never really anticipated an incident to happen in Blackwell, really. Maybe, even he felt fear._**

 _ **As he ran to the Girls' Bathroom, Nat-**_

"Kate? You okay?", A worried Brooke asked.

"Y-yeah Brooke, I'm okay, why'd you ask?"

"You blacked out for a sec. And by a sec, I mean you spent around 10 minutes looking at that tree." Brooke responded, with a sarcastic tone.

"I'm sorry Brooke, I just—I remembered what happened on Monday." Kate confessed, while Brooke let out a tired sigh.

"I was outside, on the campus that day." Brooke responded, while also looking at the tree. She took a minute to get her thoughts straight, to revive that moment, "I couldn't go inside, I was scared. Was a shootout happening within? I thought that to myself."

Kate barely remembered that. There were so many people outside the campus.

 _ **They must have been even more confused than us.**_

"The campus was so quiet, so peaceful, and then it just...that feeling just disappeared from one second to another.

Overshadowed with fear. It was terrifying.

Finally, after 4 or 5 minutes, we decided to enter the building.

We could see people screaming, crying, running away from the building.

I remember seeing Warren, terrified. I walked over to him and gave him a hug. No questions, just a hug to calm him down.

And from that angle I could see a motionless, blue-haired girl, with Max crying beside her, as David punched Nathan, over and over again, and put handcuffs on him, after his own rampage."

Kate put her arm in Brooke's shoulder, calming both of them down.

"It was terrifying, for all of us. Both of us looked at everyone's faces, filled with nothing but fear.

However...we didn't see what happened, we didn't witness it. Max did. She saw everything. For us, we saw the result of the incident, but Max? She was powerless. She couldn't have done-"

 _ **She saved Chloe, which led to her going through the worst experience anyone could face. Something so traumatizing, she will never fully recover from her wounds. Something unfixable, something that will make her have nightmares for the rest of her life.**_

"...anything." Kate responded, with a sad tone, as Brooke tried to cheer her up, but failed miserably.

"Hey listen Kate, I have to go, my class is about to start." Brooke said, as Kate nodded, trying to fake a smile. But she couldn't.

"Oh and Kate?" Kate turned around, as Brooke stood up from the bench "Make sure to take care of Max for me, will you? I shouldn't be, but in a strange way, I'm grateful for what she did to Warren yesterday."

Kate's heart skipped a beat.

 _ **What the heck did she just say?**_

"What did Max do yesterday?" Kate said, in a hasty and accelerated voice.

"Well, there's a twist." Brooke said, surprised for both Kate's question and attitude. "I thought you two would talk about anything."

Kate looked confused, while Brooke was genuinely surprised.

"She really didn't tell you?" Brooke asked, while getting no response from Kate. "Okay, okay, here's what she did."

"You're...you're-" Max tried to ask.

"You? Yeah." She responded.

"You're my...double. My clone from my nightmare." Max responded.

"Clone? Double? What, am I a doppelganger now? Please. I am you." She respon- "Please, call me Maxine. You wouldn't my name to be "her" or "It", would ya'?"

"You don't exist!" Max responded with a violent tone. "You're...You're not HERE!"

"Hey Shhh. Calm down, Max. Someone might hear us." Maxine responded, as she sat and laid back in the bed. "Or, more likely, someone might hear you."

Max was petrified. A hallucination? Another nightmare?

 ** _I'm going insane._**

"Nailed it, Caulfield." Maxine responded. Yeah. She can read Max's thoughts.

 ** _She can read my thoughts._**

"Yes, I can read your thoughts. I thought that was fairly obvious-"

"What do you want?" Max said, while interrupting Maxine.

Maxine gave a long, tired sigh, while laid back in Max's own bed.

"You know, at first, my objective was to torment you, in your little Diner nightmare." Maxine said, as Max shivered at the thought of remembering that nightmare. "To make your decision later on be a lot more challenging to choose-"  
"And you certainly made it harder for me." Max said, with an irritated, and angry tone. "Because of you, it was much more...painful and horrifying to let my best friend-"  
"Woah woah woah! You better check what you just said Max. Chloe wasn't your BFF. We both know that shit, so don't try to fool me. It's impossible to fool me, Mad Max." As Maxine said those two last words, something almost snapped in Max. Almost.

"I hit a nerve, didn't I? My bad, Max." Maxine said, while taunting her. "Anyways, not only that. You do know you killed her, right?"

 ** _What is she talking about, I didn't-_**

"Kill her? Uh yes you did. You might have not noticed so far, but letting her die is the same as killing someone—this is kindergarten stuff, Bat-Max!" Maxine responded, but Max finally snapped.

"I want you to get the FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!" Max screamed, as Maxine started to laugh.

"Ohhhh look at THAT! I don't think anyone's ever seen you this angry..." Maxine said, as she pointed at a semi-open door. Max's door.

"Until now." Maxine said. As Max saw the door open, then her sight went back to the bed. Maxine was gone. Disappeared...for now.

"Max?" Kate said, a little bit scared. "Is everything all right-"  
"No. No it's not." Max honestly responded.

Kate looked at Max with a weird stare. Was it a suspicious stare, or a worried stare?

"Max, why did you scream like that?" Kate said, as she sat down beside Max, in the bed. Again.

"I need to...I need to leave. Get some fresh air, maybe go outside of the dorms..." Max said, as Kate stood up, holding her hand onto Max's.

"Aww, look at that! You're holding hands, what do you kids call that...mhm...Ah yes, bonding!" Maxine said. Standing right next to Max.

As Max gave a startled look, Maxine tried to shut her off.

"Shhh Max, come on! Pretend I'm not here, or else Kate'll fuck us over, and tell everyone we're insane!" Maxine said, somewhat relieving Max, in a weird way.

Kate looked in the direction Max just looked at, but saw nothing. She started to get seriously worried, and Maxine noticed instantly.

"See? Told ya." Maxine said. "I'll just follow you kiddos around, alrighty? Just pretend I don't exist. Even if I actually do."

"Max..." Kate said, as she gently pulled Max's arm. "Come on, let's go."

"Just gimme a second to change my clothes to normal ones." Max was still wearing the funeral clothes. Kate gave her around 2 minutes to dress up in her usual outfit: The Jane Doe pink shirt, her gray hoodie, and some jeans. And they went straight to the front of the campus.

Maxine followed them slowly, as Max kept looking over her shoulder. Kate was getting more and more worried.

 ** _(Kate) She looks so scared...so worried...she's losing it._**

Kate put her arm around Max's shoulder, comforting her. It seems to have an effect on Max, giving her a feeling of safety.

As they walked outside, to the front of the campus, they sat down in a bench. While Maxine followed them, with an extremely bored expression.

"Ok, you know what, Max? I am outta here, the boredom is killing me. See you in the morning." Maxine said, as she walked inside the dorms once more, disappearing from Max's sight.

 ** _"See you in the morning"? Are you shitting me? She'll be bothering me every day now?! If I'm not already insane, I might just go crazy just by listening to-_**

"Max!" Kate yelled, with a somewhat lowered voice. "For god's sake, just please tell me the truth."

 _ **Which one?**_

 _ **The one that I am seeing a hallucination of a psychotic version of myself?**_

 _ **The one where I lost memory of what happened in the last 24 hours?The one where I killed my best friend...for the safety of this town?!**_  
 _ **The one where I saved you, because I was too afraid to lose you?!**_

Those last thoughts got Max. It touched a nerve. She started to tear up for a bit, while Kate held her head, in her chest.

"Max..." Kate slowly had to get her thoughts straight. She could fuck up everything, with just a few words.

 _ **(Kate) Should I tell her about the Journal? Interrogate her about her supposed powers? Or what she did to Warren yesterday?**_

 ** _Warren. She needs to know. Or to see if she's been lying. It...It hurts me to not know whether she's lying or not._**

 ** _It's time to confirm it._**

"I know what you did yesterday."

Max opened her eyes, and were as bright as a pair of lightbulbs.

"Tell me. What happened. Now" Max demanded..."Please Kate."  
"This is what Brooke told me. She wasn't a witness, but Warren told her about it."

 ** _(Max) Oh shit. Let me guess: He'll say to everyone that I kissed him or some shit. To brag about how he finally got Max to be interested in him. Goddamn liar._**

"Tell us everything, Kate." Max said, but got a confused look from Kate, in response.

"Us? I am only telling you this, not anyone else..."

 ** _(Max) I didn't seriously just say that...right?_**

 ** _Oh shit. I'll look into that little hiccup later, this is more important._**

"Me. Yes. Tell 'me' everything. Better?" Max responded. "Good."

Kate started to narrate:

"You walked out of the Girls' Dorms, walking calmly but focused, right after lunch, as everyone entered their dorms, since there were no classes. A lot of people were dead silent."

"No one wanted to even get near you, which that part I can remember, to not disturb you."  
"Yet Warren couldn't take a hint. He still wanted you to go to the movies with him."

 ** _(Kate) Insensitive prick._**

 ** _(Max) Insensitive prick._**

"You told him something not even he could repeat. Brooke said that you 'left a scar', according to Warren. Something much worse than anything you could have previously told him."

Max wasn't convinced. She thought Kate missed a detail on purpose, but based on her look, she didn't.

"That's it? That can't be it. There must have been something else, something we might have missed." Max started to raise even more questions, in her head. Until...

"Hmm, there is one detail, which might not matter that much, but...Brooke said that Warren mentioned to her, that you were carrying a bag, large enough for it to fit an outfit, or lots of food." Kate continued. "I specifically asked about your clothes: You weren't wearing the funeral clothes, atleast yesterday."

"Yet I woke up wearing them...I can't piece it together, I can't...remember anything!" Max started to panic. "Why is this happening, Kate? Why am I being punished for this?!"

"Punished?" Kate responded, with a suspicion as to what Max means. "What do you mean, Max?"

"I...I-I can't...I mean I want to, but-" Max stopped panicking as soon as Kate took her hand. It made her shiver every centimeter of her body, and calmed her down. They had direct eye contact for a few seconds, which was satisfying for the both of them.

"I want you to be honest with me, ok? Because I'm going to be honest with you now." Kate said, with a nervous tone. She unfortunately broke the spell that both of them were under from.

 ** _(Kate) It's now or never, Kate. I have her full trust._**

"I read your journal. I read about what happened throughout this crappy week." Kate said. All the response she received was a quick reaction from Max, which was a scared reaction.

 ** _"Shit." Maxine said._**

 ** _"Shit." Max thought to herself._**

 ** _"Lets hope this works..." Kate thought to herself, as she looked at Max's reaction._**


	3. Episode 3: Illusion

ELEGIA

* * *

Episode 3: Illusion

 _ **The journal.**_

"Max, you okay?" Kate asked. "Please, I just want to know."  
"What part did you read, again?" Max said, in a gullible fashion, trying to show off that she's oblivious. But she knows Kate read everything in the journal, from Monday to Friday, everything from this infernal week. And Kate could see right through Max's "oblivious" attitude.

Maxine also saw right through it. She facepalmed.

"This week. I read every detail, Max. I had to know." Kate said, as her four last words took Max by surprise.

"Don't overthink it, dork." Maxine said, with a frustrated, and somewhat angry voice.

"I had to know what was going on with you. I want to help you because I...because I care about you, and seeing you suffer through this week was also painful for me, too." Kate said, with a caring and soft, but nearly broken voice. "Is all of that true? You saw Chloe, after everything that happened?"

"You can really rewind time?"

"You knew Jefferson was like that? What did he do to you?"

 ** _(Max) Oh god, why would she mention Jefferson? I can't...the memories are flooding me, goddammit!_**

"You...you saved me?"

Max looked up to Kate, with watered eyes. She nodded.

Kate tried to look for a flaw. Something that would tell her, that all of this is a complex lie. But no. She was being honest.

They made deep eye contact, for god knows how long. It comforted Max in a strange way, something that kept her calm and wa-

"Call off the mushy shit, Maxonator." Maxine said, breaking the spell they were under, as Max looked at her. Kate looked behind her, to see who or what Max was seeing, but she saw nothing. She could see Max's look of discomfort and irritance, but not towards Kate. Behind Kate.

 ** _Fuck off._**

"Oh, I'm sorry, couldn't hear ya. Could you, speak a little louder?" Maxine said, while interrupting Max's thought process, as she pointed at her, "I want you to say it. Not think it. Say it!"

Max wasn't stupid. She wasn't having any of that. Max shook her head, as Maxine shut up and left to the side of the campus.

"Max? Max!" Kate said, as she interrupted Max's thought process. "I've been calling your name for a full minute. You are acting very strange, Max. And I want to figure out why. I'm sorry for intruding, but I want to help you. Please."

 ** _She cares about me that much? Would she believe me if I told her I have rewind powers? She already read it, and I can't blame her if she doesn't believe it. But she saw the polaroids. The pictures I took with Chloe. It's evidence._**

 ** _Now I get it: She deserves an answer. That's it, isn't it? She's a good girl, that doesn't want to see me suffer, like...like..._**

 ** _Chloe. She didn't want me to suffer either. She just wanted to make me happy._**

"You deserve to know everything Kate. Everything." Max said, as she was about to go to confession with Kate.

One hour later, in the campus, both of them decided to come back to Max's room. Their way there was dead silent.

As both of them entered Max's room, Max quickly jumped into her bed. Kate sat beside her again.

Max curled up in her bed, pulling the sheets to her side.

"Well, I guess I'll just leave then, and let you sleep in peace." Kate said, before Max held her hand.

"Stay with me again. Please." Max practically begged, as Kate gave her a tired, yet innocent look. "I've been a nuisance and I know it. But you're the only one that wants to help me. The only one here that truly cares and wants to make me happy. And that makes you awesome."

Kate gave her the warmest smile Max ever witnessed, and agreed in silence to stay with her.

As Max rested her head to Kate's shoulder, almost immediately, she went into a deep sleep.

 _ **The campus? Where am I? I can see the parking lot-**_

"Oh hi, Max." Maxine said, with a cold smile.

"What do you want?" Max responded, with an irritated tone.

"I wanna give you something. A gift." Maxine said, as she caught Max's attention. "A sneak peek."

"A sneak peek to-"  
"Saturday."

"Tell me. What do you want to-?"

Before Max could even finish, she witnessed at Warren, a bit far away from her, since he was in the Parking Lot. Waiting, but Max was away from him. She was confused to say the least.

Until she saw herself, walking near Warren. A reflection of her.

"What the hell? Is that-"  
"Yes Max, that's supposed to be you. It's a reenactment of what happened." Max wasn't sure, as if this was real or-

"Yes, it IS what happened. I didn't write this stuff, as if it were part of a fanfic, or a dream. This is exactly what happened yesterday."

Max started to hear them, even if they were far away, she could hear them both perfectly fine.

"Hey Max? What's that bag for?" Warren said.

Max's doppelganger, the one portraying what Max did yesterday, gave no response, just a cold stare.

"Woah, well that was scary. Anyways, sorry for being nosy or something. I know you're really fucked up and sad about what happened this week. But I think I could distract you from it, right? We could go to the drive-in to watch a Planet of the Apes marathon!"  
Max's doppelganger was speechless. She looked down to the ground for a few seconds, until she looked up to Warren.

"Think about it, Warren."

"Think about...what?"  
"Do you really think I'm in the mood to go to the fucking drive-in?" Max's doppelganger replied, with a somber, cold voice.

"I'm—I'm sorry Max, I thought I could-"

"Help? By taking me to the fucking movies? Are you serious? You are so pathetic."

"Max, you can knock it off with your...creepy/dark stunt, you know. You're scaring AND offending me-"  
Max's doppelganger put her face, mere inches away from Warren's. He thought this was a sign to kiss her. Instead, she pushed his face away, so hard he fell to the ground.

"You think I'm oblivious to what you're trying to do? You're trying to be my fucking boyfriend or some shit." Max's doppelganger said, as she looked down upon Warren's defeated body. "You are nothing, Warren. To anyone."

Those words were hurting Warren, even if he tried to hide it.

"So instead of wasting any more of my time, I need you to do one last thing for me, you pathetic piece of meat: Fuck off."

Max's doppelganger didn't even flinch, and proceeded to step on Warren's leg, as hard as she could. Warren gave a short scream.

Warren was left on the floor of the parking lot, crying alone, as Max's figure faded away.

The real Max saw the Doppelganger leave the scene, as Maxine put her arm in Max's shoulder.

"Is this what you wanted to know about?" Maxine asked, to taunt Max.

"This...this couldn't have happened. I couldn't have done that, this is bullshit!"

"Oh, this happened Caulfield. This happened. Why don't you ask Warren, when you get the fuck up!"

Then it hit Max, like a wall of bricks. It wasn't her all along that insulted, hurt, and traumatized Warren.

It was Maxine.

"You...you controlled me? Used me as some kind of puppet?"  
"Puppet? Max, I am inside of you...that came out wrong, didn't it?" Maxine chuckled, but that was enough to make Max snap.

She went and punched Maxine in her own face. Max could feel the impact of her own punch.

She punched again.

And again.

But she could feel the same pain.

"Oh my GOD, Max! You hypocritical bastard! You hurt me, you hurt yourself. I AM YOU, YOU IDIOT...

AND I AIN'T GOIN' NOWHERE."

Max stopped the punches, realizing how stupid that was to do. She was desperate.

"Besides, I did you a favor: Now he won't bother us no more. Not after that."  
"He was kind to us. He was a friend!" Max yelled.

"A friend that was in love of us! We can't have a creep like that, sneaking into our lives!" Maxine yelled back. "You wanted this. You wanted him to leave you alone. Multiple times."

"That's not true..."

"You promised him you would go to the drive-in, in your little fucked up timeline, but that was an empty promise, wasn't it?"  
"Stop..."

"Now, he was useful when he beat poor little Nathan for us. Even if you terribly misjudged him. Or both of them."  
"Stop."

"He was complete chicken-shit when he interacted with Chloe, wasn't he? Besides, you already had eyes for another certain person, didn't you?"  
"Stop!"

"And now, 2 days after all of this shit, you already have eyes for the good ol' Cinnamon bun girl. What a nice replacement."  
Max growled, angrily at how she could mock Kate like that.

"I should have killed Warren on the spot."

"STOP!" Max yelled, as she grabbed the blankets, with force.

She was back. In the real world. Not in her daily nightmares.

She looked to her left. She saw Kate, startled and scared.

"M-Max?" Kate tried to say. Max comforted her with a desperate hug.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry Kate. I'm so so sorry!" Max said, as she tried to apologize, in a desperate manner.

Kate sighed, in a more calmed fashion. She looked at the time. It was 6PM.

"Nightmares, again?" Kate said.

"Yeah."

"I-I think we should get up, Max. We've been taking that nap for a bit too long, now." Kate said, as she tried to get up.

Max got up, too. She felt wrong. Felt terrible for startling Kate, but also for what she realized. For everything.

Was Maxine controlling her for the full day yesterday?

Was all of that shit with Warren even real?

"Max, are you going to be okay? You look worried." Kate asked, while holding Max's hand.

Kate knew that holding Max's hand always calmed both of them down. It was obvious, she could see right through Max.

"I-I don't know, Kate." Max said, as she leaned closer to Kate. "I'm not sure if I'll be okay after any of this. But..."  
"But what, Max?" Kate said, paying close attention to Max.

"I told you I needed something, but I guess I wasn't clear. I don't need help: I need you." Max responded, to Kate's surprise, and undeniable cuteness. "You're the only one that knows about what I've been through, and I'm not sure if you even believe me or not. But if you do...I just wanna say: Thank you, Kate. For everything."

As Kate leaned even closer to Max, with their faces almost touching: "No problem, Max."

Both of them looked at each other's mouths for a second. Both of them wanted something to happen. As they leaned...closer...and closer-

 _ **Bzz Bzz**_

Max's phone started to ring. Someone texted her. She gave out a sigh as she slowly got away from Kate, which Kate's response was a disappointed expression.

"Look, I'll uhm...you know, have to go...to my..." Kate said, as she let out a disappointed sigh, got up and out of the room.

As Max went to respond to the cell phone, she was also disappointed nothing happened due to the goddamn cell phone. This better be important.

 _ **Message from: Warren**_

"W-Warren?!" Max said, with a small smile on her face. "You lied to me, didn't you? That was just a dream, right?"  
"You expecting me to answer, sis?" Maxine said, behind her, as Max nodded.

"See for yourself."

Max's expression of relief faded away, as she listened to Maxine and checked her phone.

*From: Warren

hey max

sry bout yesterday didn't mean to offend you

I promise I will never bother u again

Even if u hurt me in more ways than one

I'll still forgiv u

"You sick fuck. How could you make me do that?" Max said, outloud, towards Maxine, as she realized the incident in the parking lot wasn't a nightmare, or a hallucination. It happened.

"Oh come on, he was always bothering us, interrupting us—do you seriously expect me to believe you never wanted him to fuck off—I AM YOU, I KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, WHAT YOU FEEL." Maxine yelled, while Max stayed quiet, until her phone buzzed again.

 _ ***From: Warren**_

anyways

you asked me 2 look out for any news on the jefferson case

check out the sunday morning report on that ABN central channel

its important

"The...the Jefferson Case? Oh god."

Max sent the address to her laptop, while texting Warren: "thank you warren. We'll talk later about everything, k?"

Max got no response back.

As she opened her laptop, she went to the address. The news report from this morning.

"Today, on ABN."

"Following the Blackwell Case, in regards to the shooting that took place this Monday, police are currently investigating the murder of an associate, that was connected to Nathan Prescott, part of the prestigious Prescott Family."

Max leaned closer to the screen, as Maxine followed.

"Reports suggest that, Frank Bowers, discovered to be a drug dealer, was found dead this morning. As of now, the police are currently investigating this matter, and how it all connects to the Blackwell Incident."

 ** _This can't be happening. This can't happening. This can't be happening._**

Max turned around, but Maxine was nowhere to be found.

"Sources say Frank was gunned down, with a shot to the head. Nothing was taken from the RV he was staying in, meaning there were no signs of robbery."

 ** _THIS ISN'T REAL_**

"As of now, the police hasn't revealed any details yet, however Officer Connolly, the agent leading the investigation towards the Blackwell Incident, will give a full public report, later during the week."

 ** _WHY_**

 _ **IS**_

 _ **THIS**_

 _ **HAPPENING**_

 _ **WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?!**_

 ** _WHAT KIND OF WORLD DOES THIS?!_**

 _ **WHO DOES THIS?!**_

As Max was trying to get her thoughts straight, she threw the laptop away, and kept punching the desk. Over, and over again. She fell to the floor, gasping for air, nearly choking. She looked to her right.

She saw the journal, near the trash bin.

She held it in her hands, as she wanted to take a small peek to the past, to distract herself from what she just saw.

"I have everything recorded in this book. The best, yet worst week of my life is here." Max said, letting out a sigh.

She was still on the floor, but as she tried to open it, her sense of guilt and trauma kept her from reading it, she threw it to the ground, and slided under the bed.

"Oh come on! I-Dammit." She just realized how irritating it is to get something under the bed.

As she tried to reach it, she saw it. A gray, duffel bag.

 ** _Kate mentioned something about a big bag. Something to hold clothes and food, or something._**

Instead of taking the journal, she chose to get the bag, instead. She didn't have any memory of what was in that bag – or the bag's existence, for that matter.

As she grabbed it with one hand, she unzipped the big storage part of it. It had dirty clothes on it.

"What the hell is all this? Why are my clothes here?" Max asked...

As she took the clothes of the bag, piece by piece, she noticed there was something else inside the bag, under all of those clothes.

Max took every piece of clothing, faster and faster, until she saw it.

Max got up from the floor, in shock and horror, realizing what was inside the bag meant.

As she picked it up from the bag, she saw to her right, at her dorm door. The door was open, and Max realized Kate saw everything.

"Max...d-drop that now, before someone sees you." Kate said, with a broken voice.

Max chuckled.

"Why should I, Katey?" Max said. With a somber, distorted voice. Kate didn't recognize the voice anymore.

Kate didn't see Max.

She saw someone else.

Or something else.

* * *

Notes: So...this is where it concludes. Before you ask, no this isn't a cliffhanger, this is the conclusion of the fan-fic. The ending is up to your interpretation.

This is to give the reader choices in how the story should be handled, like the game.


End file.
